Al's Bargain Place

Contsct: Judy Flory at welcomemat.bz or Kimberly Genovese at kw.com

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 19:39:12 GMT

Large Sunroom just off the above ground pool.

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603 Main Medaryville, IN 47957 >> map it $99,000 >> mortgage calculator bed/bath: 3/1 sq. ft.: 1632


Tools >> save this listing inquire about listing request a showing >> email listing	Agent Info >> email >> visit website Kimberly Genovese (219) 508-6742

PROPERTY DETAILS:

Remarks:

Roomy, well cared for home on the edge of town! Plenty of room to entertain in the screen porch by the above ground pool, or down in the finished knotty pine room with the bar! Large rooms make this home extra comfortable. Hardwood floors throughout give it that cozy feeling. Don't worry about storms - this home has a poured concrete storm shelter off the basement.(Storm shelter entrance is in basement)Home is also equipped with a masterguard fire alarm system. Home is handicap accessible. They thought of it all here! Come and see it!

Property Type:

Residential

Style:

Ranch/1 Sty/Bungalow

Area Name:

607-Winamac

Year Built:

1948

Square Feet:

1632

Exterior:

Vinyl

Garage Description:

Attached

Garage Spaces:

Heat Type:

Forced Air

Heat Source:

Natural Gas

Air Conditioning:

Central Air

Water:

Municipal Water

Sewer:

Sewer

FEATURES & AMENITIES:

Township:

White Post

Pool:

Additional Features:

Main Floor Bedroom, Main Floor Bathroom, Formal Dining Room, Sun Room, Barrier Free Access

Exterior Features:

Patio, Above Ground Pool, Covered Porch, Deck

ROOM INFORMATION:

Has Basement:

Bedrooms:

Total Full Baths:

ROOM SIZES:

Room	Approx. Size
Master Bedroom:	15 X 13
Bedroom 2:	18 X 10
Bedroom 3:	15 X 13
Dining Room:	16 X 11
Kitchen:	20 X 10
Laundry Room:	37 X 21
Living Room:	24 X 15

SCHOOL INFORMATION:

Elementary School:

West Central

Middle School:

West Central

Jr. High School:

West Central

High School:

West Central

FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

Listing Price:

$99,000

Annual Taxes:

$355

Property Details for Listing #221254

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Fatal crash driver's blood alcohol twice legal limit

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 07:52:10 GMT

July 31, 2008

By John Byrne Post-Tribune staff writer

CROWN POINT -- A man with a history of drunken driving arrests had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he ran a stop sign and killed three other motorists and himself in a high-speed collision, the Lake County Coroner's Office said Wednesday.

Mario Cadena's blood-alcohol content was 0.17 percent when he slammed his Jeep Cherokee into two vehicles April 30 at the intersection of 101st Avenue and Randolph Street, said Lake County Coroner David Pastrick, who just received the toxicology results.

The legal blood alcohol limit in Indiana is 0.08 percent.

Killed in the crash along with Cadena were attorney Garry Weiss, driving a Ford Mustang, and Hobart couple Steven Hough and Amy Bartelmey in their Ford Explorer. All four died of blunt force trauma injuries.

Cadena, a Mexican immigrant in the U.S. illegally, had been charged with drunken driving in 2001 and 2003.

He also had previous arrests for speeding and driving with a suspended license.

A former girlfriend said he had battled alcoholism.

Weiss, 53, was a prominent attorney who had just finished defending Gary firefighter Carlton Davis Jr. against dogfighting charges the day before the crash.

Hough, 26, and Bartelmey, 25, were planning to marry.

Contact John Byrne at 648-3072 or jbyrne@post-trib.com. Comment on this story at post-trib.com.

Trail Of SEnator Stevens

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 06:43:44 GMT

How can we the citizens of the united states get a fair trail of Senator Stevens when he will be tried in Alaska?

Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:22:19 GMT

By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT

Published: August 1, 2008

WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan’s powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials.

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Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images

Afghan and Indian officials removed a body from the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, after a bombing there on July 7.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan visited Washington this week.

The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack, the officials said, providing the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.

The American officials also said there was new information showing that members of the Pakistani intelligence service were increasingly providing militants with details about the American campaign against them, in some cases allowing militants to avoid American missile strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Concerns about the role played by Pakistani intelligence not only has strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, a longtime ally, but also has fanned tensions between Pakistan and its archrival, India. Within days of the bombings, Indian officials accused the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, of helping to orchestrate the attack in Kabul, which killed 54, including an Indian defense attaché.

This week, Pakistani troops clashed with Indian forces in the contested region of Kashmir, threatening to fray an uneasy cease-fire that has held since November 2003.

The New York Times reported this week that a top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled to Pakistan this month to confront senior Pakistani officials with information about support provided by members of the ISI to militant groups. It had not been known that American intelligence agencies concluded that elements of Pakistani intelligence provided direct support for the attack in Kabul.

American officials said that the communications were intercepted before the July 7 bombing, and that the C.I.A. emissary, Stephen R. Kappes, the agency’s deputy director, had been ordered to Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, even before the attack. The intercepts were not detailed enough to warn of any specific attack.

The government officials were guarded in describing the new evidence and would not say specifically what kind of assistance the ISI officers provided to the militants. They said that the ISI officers had not been renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorized by superiors.

“It confirmed some suspicions that I think were widely held,” one State Department official with knowledge of Afghanistan issues said of the intercepted communications. “It was sort of this ‘aha’ moment. There was a sense that there was finally direct proof.”

The information linking the ISI to the bombing of the Indian Embassy was described in interviews by several American officials with knowledge of the intelligence. Some of the officials expressed anger that elements of Pakistan’s government seemed to be directly aiding violence in Afghanistan that had included attacks on American troops.

Some American officials have begun to suggest that Pakistan is no longer a fully reliable American partner and to advocate some unilateral American action against militants based in the tribal areas.

The ISI has long maintained ties to militant groups in the tribal areas, in part to court allies it can use to contain Afghanistan’s power. In recent years, Pakistan’s government has also been concerned about India’s growing influence inside Afghanistan, including New Delhi’s close ties to the government of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

American officials say they believe that the embassy attack was probably carried out by members of a network led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose alliance with Al Qaeda and its affiliates has allowed the terrorist network to rebuild in the tribal areas.

American and Pakistani officials have now acknowledged that President Bush on Monday confronted Pakistan’s prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, about the divided loyalties of the ISI.

Pakistan’s defense minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, told a Pakistani television network on Wednesday that Mr. Bush asked senior Pakistani officials this week, “ ‘Who is in control of ISI?’ ” and asked about leaked information that tipped militants to surveillance efforts by Western intelligence services.

Pakistan’s new civilian government is wrestling with these very issues, and there is concern in Washington that the civilian leaders will be unable to end a longstanding relationship between members of the ISI and militants associated with Al Qaeda.

Spokesmen for the White House and the C.I.A. declined to comment for this article. Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, did not return a call seeking comment.

Further underscoring the tension between Pakistan and its Western allies, Britain’s senior military officer said in Washington on Thursday that an American and British program to help train Pakistan’s Frontier Corps in the tribal areas had been delayed while Pakistan’s military and civilian officials sorted out details about the program’s goals.

Britain and the United States had each offered to send about two dozen military trainers to Pakistan later this summer to train Pakistani Army officers who in turn would instruct the Frontier Corps paramilitary forces.

But the British officer, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, said the program had been temporarily delayed. “We don’t yet have a firm start date,” he told a small group of reporters. “We’re ready to go.”

The bombing of the Indian Embassy helped to set off a new deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan.

This week, Indian and Pakistani soldiers fired at each other across the Kashmir frontier for more than 12 hours overnight Monday, in what the Indian Army called the most serious violation of a five-year-old cease-fire agreement. The nightlong battle came after one Indian soldier and four Pakistanis were killed along the border between sections of Kashmir that are controlled by India and by Pakistan.

Indian officials say they are equally worried about what is happening on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border because they say the insurgents who are facing off with India in Kashmir and those who target Afghanistan are related and can keep both borders burning at the same time.

India and Afghanistan share close political, cultural and economic ties, and India maintains an active intelligence network in Afghanistan, all of which has drawn suspicion from Pakistani officials.

When asked Thursday about whether the ISI and Pakistani military remained loyal to the country’s civilian government, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sidestepped the question. “That’s probably something the government of Pakistan ought to speak to,” Admiral Mullen told reporters at the Pentagon.

Jalaluddin Haqqani, the militia commander, battled Soviet troops during the 1980s and has had a long and complicated relationship with the C.I.A. He was among a group of fighters who received arms and millions of dollars from the C.I.A. during that period, but his allegiance with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda during the following decade led the United States to sever the relationship.

Mr. Haqqani and his sons now run a network that Western intelligence services say they believe is responsible for a campaign of violence throughout Afghanistan, including the Indian Embassy bombing and an attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul earlier this year.

David Rohde contributed reporting from New York, and Somini Sengupta from New Delhi.

ckeck this on www.loudobbs.com

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:06:14 GMT

People to Watch

The U.S. Business and Industry Council’s American Economic Alert is fighting for American companies and fighting for American jobs. This site should be part of your daily reading.

Let’s get real about free trade at all costs: Keep an eye on tradewatch.org for more.

Read Lou Dobbs Tonight contributor and award-winning columnist Michael Goodwin’s New York Daily News archive.

Your America

Click here to contact your Senator or Representative.

E-Verify is a voluntary system used by more than 60,000 employers to check if workers are eligible to work in the U.S. The pilot program is set to expire in November. Here are some of the proposals to continue this type of program.

Click here to see Rep. Sam Johnson’s Bill
Click here to see co-sponsors of Johnson’s Bill
Click here to see Rep. Ken Calvert’s Bill
Click here to see Rep. Heath Shuler’s Bill

Trade Negotiators Selling Out America
The United States continues to buckle to the demands of its trading partners and sell out American workers. Mega-businesses around the world are celebrating this country’s hard-line stance of giving them everything they want when it comes to visas for cheap labor. Please contact your “leaders” in Washington to tell them you’re outraged that our trade negotiators will do whatever foreign countries tell them to when it comes to “free” trade.

Click here to contact your Senator or Representative.

English as the Official Language?
A group called U.S. English is leading the charge to keep English as the official language of the United States and it’s holding our elected officials accountable for their positions on this very important issue. Visit the U.S. English website to see if your elected officials have signed their pledge to support official English language legislation in Congress. Click here for the U.S. English website.

Senators’ Shady Mortgages
It should come as no surprise that while Americans struggle to stay in their homes, many of the powerful elites who “lead” us in Washington got special deals from the banks that issued their mortgages. Politico.com reached out to all 100 senators to find out whether they got their mortgages from embattled lender Countrywide Financial, and whether they received special terms regardless of who issued the mortgage.

Of course, many senators are wealthy enough to buy one or more homes outright. And an amazing 33 senators have refused to answer any questions. Click here to read the Politico article on senators’ mortage deals. And click here to see the full survey results.

Border Fence Fight
In a backdoor deal during the 2007 holiday season, Congress effectively gutted the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Now, Rep. Walter Jones (R, North Carolina) and Grassfire.org are asking for your help to demand Congress build the border fence. To sign their petition, click here.

ANY ONE THAT SAYS NO TAX INCREASE IS AN "IDIOT.

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:53:32 GMT

ANY BODY CAN LOOK AROUND AND SEE THERE IS NO ONE THAT KEEP TAXES DOWN OR NOT RAISE THEM. ANY ONE THAT SAYS THAT IS LYING THRU THERE TEETH if they have there own. THAT IS WHAT SOMEONE MIGHT SAY TO GET ELECTED.

Econmic News Release

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:57:32 GMT

Employment Cost Index news release text

Technical Contact: USDL: 08-1048
(202) 691-6199 NCSinfo@bls.gov
Media Contact: TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL
(202) 691-5902 IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED
Internet address: UNTIL 8:30 AM EDT,
http://www.bls.gov/ect THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2008

EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX-JUNE 2008

Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7 percent from March to
June 2008, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department
of Labor reported today, the same as the increase from December 2007 to March 2008. Wages
and salaries rose 0.7 percent and benefits rose 0.6 percent. In the previous quarter,
wages and salaries increased 0.8 percent and benefits increased 0.6 percent. The
Employment Cost Index (ECI), a product of the National Compensation Survey, measures
quarterly changes in compensation costs for civilian workers (nonfarm private industry
and state and local government workers).

Table A. 3-month percent changes in the Employment Cost Index, seasonally adjusted
Compensation Sep. Dec. Mar. June Sep. Dec. Mar. June
component 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2008
Civilian workers
Compensation costs 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7
Wages and salaries 0.9 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7
Benefit costs 1.0 1.0 0.2 1.3 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6
Private industry
Compensation costs 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.6
Wages and salaries 0.9 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7
Benefit costs 0.9 0.9 -0.3 1.1 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.5
State and local government
Compensation costs 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.6 0.9
Wages and salaries 1.3 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.9
Benefit costs 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.6 0.9 1.2 0.3 1.1

Quarterly changes, seasonally adjusted

Compensation costs for private industry rose 0.6 percent from March to June 2008;
for the prior quarter the increase was 0.8 percent. In state and local government, the
increase was 0.9 percent compared to 0.6 percent in the previous quarter. Wages and
salaries for private industry workers increased 0.7 percent for the March to June 2008 period.
For the previous quarter, the increase was 0.8 percent. In state and local government, the
increase was 0.9 percent, compared with 0.7 percent in the prior quarter. Benefit costs for
private industry rose 0.5 percent, compared to 0.6 percent in the previous quarter. For
state and local government, benefit costs increased 1.1 percent, well above the 0.3 percent
increase in the previous quarter. (See tables A, 1, 2, and 3.)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Data Series

There will be changes to the availability of Employment Cost Index (ECI) data for metropolitan
and nonmetropolitan areas in future ECI news releases. See note on page 4 for additional
information.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 3.1 percent for the year ended June 2008.
For the year ended June 2007 the increase was 3.3 percent. In private industry, compensation
costs rose 3.0 percent in the year ended June 2008, about the same as the 3.1 percent increase
for the year ended June 2007. For state and local government, the increase for the 12-month
period ended June 2008 was 3.5 percent, less than the June 2007 increase of 4.8 percent. Wages
and salaries for civilian workers increased 3.2 percent for the 12-month period; in June 2007,
the increase was 3.4 percent. Private industry wages and salaries increased 3.1 percent in
June 2008. In June 2007 the increase was 3.3 percent. State and local government wages
and salaries increased 3.4 percent for the year ended June 2008. In June 2007, the increase
was 3.8 percent. Benefits--which increased 2.9 percent for civilian workers--differed by
ownership sector. Private industry benefit costs increased 2.6 percent, less than the state
and local government increase of 3.5 percent for the 12-month period ended June 2008.
(See table B.)

Table B. 12-month percent changes in the Employment Cost Index, not seasonally adjusted
June June June June June June
Compensation component 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Civilian workers
Compensation costs 3.7 3.8 3.2 3.0 3.3 3.1
Wages and salaries 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.8 3.4 3.2
Benefit costs 5.9 7.1 5.0 3.4 3.4 2.9
Private industry
Compensation costs 3.5 3.9 3.1 2.8 3.1 3.0
Wages and salaries 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.8 3.3 3.1
Benefit costs 5.8 7.3 4.7 2.7 2.6 2.6
State and local government government
Compensation costs 4.3 3.5 3.5 3.8 4.8 3.5
Wages and salaries 3.1 2.1 2.3 3.1 3.8 3.4
Benefit costs 6.8 6.6 6.3 5.5 6.6 3.5

Nonfarm private industry

For the year ended June 2008, private industry compensation costs increased 2.8 percent
for goods-producing industries, compared to a 2.6 percent increase in June 2007. Compensation
costs for manufacturing increased 2.1 percent for the year ended June 2008, compared to
1.9 percent for the year ended June 2007. Manufacturing gains have been less than total
private industry gains since March 2006. Compensation costs for the construction industry
rose 4.0 percent, about the same as in the 3.9 percent increase in the previous year.
(See table 5.)

The over-the-year increase for June 2008 in compensation costs for service-providing
industries was 3.1 percent. The June 2007 increase was 3.3 percent. Among the major
service-providing industries, changes in compensation costs ranged from 0.6 percent in
information to 3.8 percent in professional and business services. (See table 5.)

Among private industry occupational groups, over-the-year compensation gains ranged from
2.6 percent for production, transportation, and material moving to 3.3 percent for service
occupations. (See table 5.)

Compensation costs for union workers advanced 2.7 percent in the year ended June 2008
while compensation cost increases for nonunion workers increased 3.0 percent in the same
12-month period. Wages and salaries for union workers increased 2.9 percent in the 12-month
period ended June 2008. For nonunion workers, the increase was 3.2 percent. Benefit costs
for union workers rose 2.4 percent in the 12-month period; costs for nonunion workers rose
2.7 percent. (See tables C, 6, 10, and 12.)

Table C. 12-month percent changes in the Employment Cost Index, private industry workers,
by bargaining status, not seasonally adjusted

Compensation June June June June June June
component 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Union workers
Compensation costs 4.9 5.7 3.0 3.0 2.1 2.7
Wages and salaries 3.0 2.8 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.9
Benefit costs 8.1 10.9 4.1 3.8 1.4 2.4
Nonunion workers
Compensation costs 3.2 3.7 3.1 2.8 3.3 3.0
Wages and salaries 2.5 2.7 2.5 2.9 3.4 3.2
Benefit costs 5.3 6.4 4.8 2.5 2.8 2.7

State and local government

For the year ended June 2008, wages and salaries for state and local government workers
rose 3.4 percent. The increase for the 12-month period ended June 2007 was 3.8 percent.
Benefit costs increased 3.5 percent, down from the increase of 6.6 percent in the previous
year. Public administration wages and salaries increased 3.2 percent, down from the June 2007
increase of 4.1 percent. (See tables B, 11, and 12.)

Over-the-year changes in wages and salaries, constant dollars, not seasonally adjusted

After adjusting for the changes in the prices of consumer goods and services, wages and
salaries for civilian workers decreased 1.7 percent for the 12-month period ended June 2008,
compared to a 0.7 percent increase for the 12-month period ended June 2007. The decrease for
private industry was 1.8 percent compared to an increase of 0.7 percent for the year ended
June 2007. State and local government registered a 1.4 percent decrease, compared to an
increase of 0.9 percent for the previous year. (See table D.)

Table D. 12-month percent changes in wages and salaries, Employment Cost Index, constant dollars,
not seasonally adjusted

Series June June June June June June
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Civilian workers 0.6 -0.7 -0.1 -1.3 0.7 -1.7
Occupation
Management, professional, and
related 0.9 -0.7 0.1 -1.3 0.9 -1.5
Sales and office 0.3 -0.3 -0.1 -1.1 0.5 -2.1
Natural resources, construction,
and maintenance 0.5 -0.6 -0.4 -1.1 0.6 -1.3
Production, transportation, and
material moving 0.3 -1.0 -0.2 -2.0 0.0 -2.0
Service 0.2 -1.1 -0.2 -1.8 1.3 -1.6
Industry
Goods-producing 0.8 -1.0 0.0 -1.1 0.2 -1.8
Service-providing 0.5 -0.6 -0.1 -1.4 0.8 -1.6
Private industry 0.5 -0.6 0.0 -1.5 0.7 -1.8
State and local government 1.0 -1.2 -0.1 -1.2 0.9 -1.4

___________________________________________________________________________________________
NOTE:

Effective with the release of December 2008 data, compensation and wage and salary data
aggregated across all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas--which currently appear in
tables 6 and 10--will be discontinued as a result of classification changes to metropolitan
statistical areas.

Beginning with data for this quarter--June 2008--ECI estimates for private industry for
as many as 15 individual localities will be released. For each locality, two estimates
will be provided: 12-month percent change for total compensation and 12-month percent
change for wages and salaries. The June 2008 data are scheduled for release on the
Compensation and Working Conditions Online (CWC Online) website at www.bls.gov/opub/cwc
in late September 2008. Information about future release schedules for these data will be
included in the CWC Online article.

The ECI for September 2008 is scheduled for release on Friday, October 31, 2008, at
8:30 AM EDT.

ECI data are available on the Compensation Cost Trends page at www.bls.gov/ect. For
ECI data requests, send e-mail to NCSinfo@bls.gov or call (202)691-6199. For technical
assistance in using the BLS Internet site, send e-mail to webmaster@bls.gov.

BLS news releases, including the ECI, are available through an e-mail subscription
service. See the subscription link at www.bls.gov/ect or www.bls.gov/bls/list.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals
upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Se

For White House, Hiring Is Political

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:20:30 GMT

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

Published: July 31, 2008

WASHINGTON — On May 17, 2005, the White House’s political affairs office sent an e-mail message to agencies throughout the executive branch directing them to find jobs for 108 people on a list of “priority candidates” who had “loyally served the president.”

“We simply want to place as many of our Bush loyalists as possible,” the White House emphasized in a follow-up message, according to a little-noticed passage of a Justice Department report released Monday about politicization in the department’s hiring of civil-service prosecutors and immigration officials.

The report, the subject of a Senate oversight hearing Wednesday, provided a window into how the administration sought to install politically like-minded officials in positions of government responsibility, and how the efforts at times crossed customary or legal limits.

Andrew Rudalevige, an associate professor of political science at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania who studies presidential power, said that while presidents of both parties over the last half-century had sought ways to impose greater political control over the federal bureaucracy, the Bush administration had gone further than any predecessor.

“The Bush administration is unprecedented in how systematic the politicization is and how it extends both across the wider organization chart and deep down within the bureaucracy,” Professor Rudalevige said. “They’ve been very consistent from Day 1 in learning the lessons of previous administrations and pushing those tactics to the limit.”

Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, said there was nothing inappropriate or unusual about installing White House allies in politically appointed positions, and insisted that it had never been the administration’s policy to consider political affiliation when hiring career civil servants.

“I reject the presumption that we have been any more or less aggressive than any other administration in trying to execute our policies,” Mr. Fratto said.

The report released on Monday by Justice Department investigators said that the context of the May 17, 2005, message from the White House “made plain” that it was seeking politically appointed government jobs, for which it is legal to take politics into account. The report did not say who sent the message.

But the message also urged administration officials to “get creative” in finding the patronage positions — and some political appointees carried out their mission with particular zeal.

“We pledge 7 slots within 40 days and 40 nights. Let the games begin!” Jan Williams, then the White House’s liaison to the Justice Department, said in an e-mail message two days later.

Within a week, messages between Ms. Williams and the White House showed, she began trying to match the White House-vetted names of people who had been “helpful to the president” — like campaign volunteers — with openings for immigration judges, positions that are supposed to be filled using politically neutral, merit-based criteria.

Ms. Williams told the Justice Department inspector general that she had not realized that immigration judges were career jobs subject to Civil Service rules. Mr. Fratto said there was no evidence that White House officials realized that at the time, either.

The department’s response to the May 2005 e-mail message was not the only instance in which government agencies appeared to have taken a White House political directive in a more aggressive direction.

In 2005, the White House, in seminars to agency liaisons, recommended that they use Internet searches when vetting certain applicants to determine their views on Mr. Bush, abortion and other matters, the Justice Department report said.

But at the Justice Department, Ms. Williams’s successor, Monica M. Goodling, began using an expanded version of the search to screen the views of candidates for career positions on matters as far-ranging as homosexuality, gun rights and the Iran-contra scandal. The report also accuses Ms. Goodling of asking candidates for Civil Service jobs to fill out a form disclosing their political activities.

Ms. Goodling admitted in Congressional testimony last year that she had “crossed the line” in applying a political litmus test to career job candidates. Through her lawyer this week, she declined to be interviewed.

Paul C. Light, a professor of government at New York University, said the administration had fostered an atmosphere that encouraged blurring the line between politics and policy, as when Mr. Bush gave Karl Rove, his top political adviser, a policy-making role in the White House. That atmosphere, Professor Light said, increased the chances of scandal by over-eager political appointees who ended up embarrassing the president.

“Once you send this permissive agenda to agencies, you can’t control it,” Professor Light said. “You want them to toe the line, but they may innovate.”

For example, he noted, when Mr. Bush first took office, his top political aides, including Mr. Rove, began briefing political appointees in agencies throughout the executive branch about coming elections and how policy decisions might affect the outcome of crucial races, according to several news reports.

In January 2007, a deputy to Mr. Rove conducted such a briefing for top managers of the General Services Administration, which handles more than $50 billion in annual contracts. At the end of the briefing, according to a Congressional investigation, the chief of the agency, Lurita A. Doan, encouraged agency officials to think about helping “our candidates” in the next election.

The accusations against Ms. Doan, who later resigned under pressure, dovetailed with ones leveled by David Kuo, the former deputy director of Mr. Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

In a 2006 book, Mr. Kuo wrote that the office used taxpayer money to host events in 20 areas where motivating religious voters could swing the outcome of important Congressional races.

And the inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that its secretary, Alphonso R. Jackson, had urged his staff to favor companies that were friendly to Mr. Bush when awarding contracts. Mr. Jackson resigned in the spring.

But nowhere have the charges of politicization been as intense as at the Justice Department, where the investigations into personnel practices began with the firing of nine United States attorneys in 2006.

The overlapping investigations have already led to the resignation of several top department officials, including Ms. Goodling and former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. And Democrats show no sign of easing up.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the Justice Department reports had made clear that “the problems of injecting politics” into decisions that are supposed to be nonpartisan “are rooted deeper than just the actions of a handful of individuals.”

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee voted on party lines, 20 to 14, to recommend that Mr. Rove be cited for contempt for ignoring a subpoena and not appearing at a hearing to discuss the accusations of political interference by the White House into hiring practices at the Justice Department.

PORK IN BILLS

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:15:37 GMT

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Paul Votes Against Largest Pork Spending Bill in U.S. History

Washington, DC: Congressman Ron Paul cast a strong “NO” vote against the last huge spending measure of the year on Monday, rejecting the irresponsible special interest pork found in the 1,100 page bill. The so-called “omnibus” appropriations bill for 2004, the single largest spending bill ever passed by Congress, represents one-third of the entire federal budget for 2003!

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Paul stated. “This bill was naked pork, pure and simple. Federal deficits have reached all-time highs, and the recent Medicare boondoggle will add trillions to the federal debt-- the last thing taxpayers need is another huge spending bill! The annual appropriations bills are no longer large enough to satisfy the big-spenders in Washington, so the omnibus bill has become a way for Congress to reward every last special interest as a year-end treat. It is unconscionable for Congress to burden future generations with this new debt."

The mammoth spending bill weighs in at a hefty $820 billion, with staggering amounts of pork for every conceivable special interest. Here are just a few brief examples of the ridiculous pork that you will be paying for:

                -$16,000 for the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in New York;
                -$75,000 for the U.S. Dream Academy in Maryland;
                -$500,000 for “LOVE” Social Services in Alaska;
                -$325,000 for a swimming pool in California;
                -$400,000 for a music museum in Iowa;
                -$250,000 for the “Call Me Mister” program at Clemson University;
                -$50,000,000 (fifty million!) for the Iowa Environmental Education Project.

The Senate has not acted on the bill, so Congressman Paul urges all Texas who oppose this reckless spending to contact their Senators.

We as citizens have got to fight our politicians like your love ones are fighting overseas

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:06:51 GMT

We as United States citizens have got to fight these politicians to do whats right for majority of the "citizens" We have got to stop ALL corruption no matter who they are or what they have done in the past.We have got a country in a lot of trouble and its time right now to change this country.Unless we straiting out this country right now at every election we have, we are going to go under as a country.These politicians have been in office to long.We need ALL THESE OLD POLITICIANS OUT AT EVERY ELECTION THAT COMES ALONG . We don't need people like senator Stevens.

Roots of the Stevens Investigation

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:36:04 GMT

One of the most powerful members of the Senate for nearly three decades, Ted Stevens built a loyal following in Alaska by protecting and promoting the key industries of oil and fishing, and by bringing home legendary buckets of federal spending for his constituents' pet projects. (An episode of the TV series "West Wing" once showed two aides joking about outrageous fictional earmarks. Except one of the earmarks was real, brought in by Stevens: $2 million to monitor Alaskan skies for volcanic ash.)

Stevens has survived many attacks on his pork-barrel politics. He is a hardened politico who flew fighter jets during World War II and survived a 1978 small plane crash in Anchorage that killed five people including his first wife, Ann. ('It's my Scot's blood,' he said from his hospital bed at the time.) But today's federal indictment presents the greatest threat yet to his political career.

The federal probe apparently was spurred by an investigation published in June 2003 by the Los Angeles Times. The Times said the senator's activities had "furthered his son Ben's career as a consultant," citing financial disclosure reports showing that a dozen companies and organizations who benefited from Ted Stevens' efforts paid Ben Stevens, "at least $754,976 in consulting fees for part-time work over the last three years."

Included in the fees was at least $212,000 from VECO, the oil services company at the heart of today's federal indictment. At the time, VECO was trying to collect its share of payments for a $70 million pipeline it helped build in Pakistan; Ted Stevens had sway over a trade bill important to Pakistan, the Times reported.

Fannie, Freddie On a Tightrope

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:18:49 GMT

Mortgage Giants Navigate Market Volatility, Unique Role

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Christopher Twarowski

Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 29, 2008; Page D01

The collapse in the stock prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this month, followed by an equally dramatic rebound, underscored the vulnerability of today's agitated markets to panic and the mercurial behavior of global traders.

Financial experts said the drop, nearly 50 percent in a week, was precipitated by a series of alarming reports from analysts and in the media and was then turbocharged by a surge in short selling, bets made by investors that the shares would fall.

The federal government's response -- an unprecedented Treasury rescue plan approved by Congress this weekend, along with a move by the Securities and Exchange Commission to stop an especially troublesome type of short selling -- prompted a surge in the stock prices.

But the actions did not solve fundamental problems still facing the mortgage finance giants, especially their low levels of capital relative to those of other financial firms. The companies' leaders acknowledge that the rescue plan alone will not end the stock volatility or ease concerns about whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have the resources to weather the financial crisis in coming months.

"I don't think it will end the debate," Richard F. Syron, chief executive of Freddie Mac, said in an interview last week.

The precise balance between their public duties as government-chartered companies and obligations as investor-owned enterprises remains disputed.

With major newspapers publishing front-page reports about the mounting peril facing the companies, including a possible government takeover, investors ran for the door. On July 11 alone, more than 400 million shares of Fannie Mae changed hands -- 20 times as much volume than on a typical day at the end of June -- and its price fell by 22 percent.

"There was panic-dumping going on," said Samuel Lieber, president of Alpine Mutual Funds. "The classic extremes of Wall Street came into play: fear and greed."

The downward spiral was exacerbated by the large number of investors who bet on the stocks' decline and sold the stocks short. The number of Freddie Mac shares sold short had nearly doubled from March 31 to June 30, to 82.8 million. For Fannie Mae, the number of short sales more than doubled, to 138.7 million from 63.1 million, over the same period.

Then, from June 30 to July 15, short sales of Freddie Mac rose 28 percent and increased 11 percent for Fannie Mae, according to Bloomberg News.

"We became a very popular, almost can't-lose, short," Syron said.

Wall Street insiders called the sell-off a classic panic. Syron said the selling binge was "fear- and emotion-driven" and occurred even though "the fundamental economics of both companies I don't think was a lot different than it was a month ago."

The SEC also made it harder for investors to undermine Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's stocks by tightening the rules governing short sales. The order was temporary. The SEC is scheduled to announce today whether it will extend it and, if so, for how long.

The SEC's order in particular caused what analysts call a "short squeeze" among Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac short sellers, said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. A short squeeze pushes the price of a stock higher as short sellers liquidate and repurchase stock to cover their positions. The amount of short selling in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plummeted by 90 percent from July 14 to July 21 due to the SEC's emergency order, according to an analysis of market statistics by S3 Matching Technologies.

By July 18, the stocks had nearly doubled from their lows, hit earlier that week.

But last week, the companies' shares slumped again -- though less severely, with Fannie Mae down 13.8 percent and Freddie Mac 9.9 percent -- after existing-home sales reached their lowest level in a decade and investor Bill Gross of Pimco predicted that the housing slump could cost firms $1 trillion. Yesterday, Fannie Mae shares fell 10.7 percent and Freddie Mac dropped 6.7 percent.

The companies have long been popular overseas investments, especially in Asia, where the Treasury plan has helped to calm nerves. Deborah Schuler, a senior vice president for Moody's, said the threat to Asian banks and insurers from the problems facing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are limited. "The U.S. government has made it very clear they back Fannie and Freddie, and so there shouldn't be a need to sell them," she said.

Sunil Garg, head of equity research for Asia at J.P. Morgan Chase, said he also does not believe that any Chinese, Japanese or other Asian holders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities are selling.

At the same time, the recent difficulties at the companies have helped send U.S. mortgage rates to their highest levels in a year. And those troubles could get worse. On Friday, the credit-rating firm Standard & Poor's said it might downgrade its ratings on some of the companies' bonds because of difficult market conditions, potentially increasing their borrowing costs.

Financial experts said the abrupt decline in the companies' stock prices earlier this month had not been unexpected.

"This was like a ticking time bomb that just happened to have gone off right now," said Desmond Lachman, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. The reason, he said: "They were operating at incredibly low capital ratios."

But some financial analysts attributed the fall in the stock prices to the finances of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"What surprised me at the time was that it hadn't collapsed earlier," Lucas said.

Special correspondent Ariana Eunjung Cha in Shanghai and staff writer Dina ElBoghdady in Washington contributed to this report.